But the ref had missed a goal by Kendall Coyne a few minutes earlier, so that one counted and Kessel’s had to come off the board.

‘‘It was pretty weird, but I saw Kendall’s goal go in,’’ Kessel said after settling for two scores in the Americans’ 9-0 victory over Switzerland Monday. ‘‘It was her first one of the tournament, so I was happy for my linemate.’’

Get Sports Headlines in your inbox:

The Globe's most recent sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.

The Americans had more goals than they needed, anyway, getting scores from Monique Lamoureux, Brianna Decker, and Kessel within 55 seconds of each other in the first to all but clinch a spot in the semifinals. It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the last two coming just eight seconds apart.

Kessel, the sister of NHL player Phil Kessel, also had an assist on Coyne’s goal and another in the first period. Asked by a reporter to describe her goals, Kessel said, ‘‘I can’t really remember them all.’’

Lamoureux and Coyne also scored twice for the Americans, and goaltender Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. With a 2-0 record, the US is in position for a spot in the medal round regardless of what happens Wednesday in its game against Canada, the marquee matchup of the round-robin.

As for the Canadians, Megan Agosta scored to break a scoreless tie in the third period, and Jayna Hefford and Rebecca Johnston added insurance goals to lead Canada to a 3-0 victory over Finland Monday.

Switzerland lost for the second time and likely is headed for a spot in the quarterfinals against one of the top two teams in the bottom tier.

Hilary Knight and North Reading, Mass., native Alex Carpenter also scored for the US, which led, 5-0, after one period and outshot the Swiss, 53-10. Florence Schelling, who played at Northeastern, made 44 saves for Switzerland against Schaus, of Natick, Mass., and Boston College, on the morning of the Beanpot final, in which their schools will play for the men’s hockey bragging rights of Boston.

‘‘We know we’re going to get lots of shots and goals against us, but we’ll tell each other, let’s just keep going no matter what the score is,’’ Swiss forward Jessica Lutz said. ‘‘They got five goals early on, but after that we stuck with it. They didn’t have goals for a while. That’s success for us.’’

The biggest mismatch in the women’s hockey round-robin was scoreless for half a period before Lamoureaux gave the Americans the lead and Decker added a goal 47 seconds later.

Kessel got the puck off the ensuing faceoff, skated into the zone on the left side, passed the puck to herself off the boards to get around a defender, and then cut in front of the net, where she beat Schelling.

‘‘I’ve been watching them do that all year,’’ said Schaus, who was the backup for the first game and didn’t see much action in this one, either.

Coach Katey Stone said Schaus did her job, and that’s all they asked of her.

‘‘We’re happy to have her not have a lot of shots whenever possible,’’ Stone said. ‘‘Because that means everyone is doing their job in front of her, too.’’

Lamoreaux made it 6-0 in the second period. Coyne, another product of Northeastern, put a shot past her former teammate and raised her hands to celebrate. The goal judge turned on the red light, but the referees signaled for play to continue.

The play was almost an afterthought by the time Kessel put the puck in the net a few minutes later and the referees went to check on it. After review, Coyne’s goal was verified and the time was put back on the clock, negating Kessel’s apparent score.

Kessel was OK with it, and that made Stone happy as well.

‘‘It’s just one more reason why you love to coach these kids,” said Stone. “They’re unbelievably selfless.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.

Thanks & Welcome to Globe.com

You now have unlimited access for the next two weeks.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.